Intergenerational change and familial aggregation of body mass index

The relationship between parental BMI and that of their adult offspring, when increased adiposity can become a clinical issue, is unknown. We investigated the intergenerational change in body mass index (BMI) distribution, and examined the sex-specific relationship between parental and adult offspring BMI. Intergenerational change in the distribution of adjusted BMI in 1,443 complete families (both parents and at least one offspring) with 2,286 offspring (1,263 daughters and 1,023 sons) from the west of Scotland, UK, was investigated using quantile regression. Familial correlations were estimated from linear mixed effects regression models. The distribution of BMI showed little intergenerational change in the normal range (\25 kg/m2), decreasing overweightness (25– \30 kg/m2) and increasing obesity (C30 kg/m2). Median BMI was static across generations in males and decreased in females by 0.4 (95% CI: 0.0, 0.7) kg/m2; the 95th percentileincreased by 2.2 (1.1, 3.2) kg/m2 in males and 2.7 (1.4, 3.9) kg/m2 in females. Mothers’ BMI was more strongly associated with daughters’ BMI than was fathers’ (correlation coefficient (95% CI): mothers 0.31 (0.27, 0.36), fathers 0.19 (0.14, 0.25); P = 0.001). Mothers’ and fathers’ BMI were equally correlated with sons’ BMI (correlation coefficient: mothers 0.28 (0.22, 0.33), fathers 0.27 (0.22, 0.33). The increase in BMI between generations was concentrated at the upper end of the distribution. This, alongside the strong parent-offspring correlation, suggests that the increase in BMI is disproportionally greater among offspring of heavier parents. Familial influences on BMI among middle-aged women appear significantly stronger from mothers than father

Quantum systems in weak gravitational fields

Fully covariant wave equations predict the existence of a class of inertial-gravitational effects that can be tested experimentally. In these equations inertia and gravity appear as external classical fields, but, by conforming to general relativity, provide very valuable information on how Einstein's views carry through in the world of the quantum.Comment: 22 pages. To be published in Proceedings of the 17th Course of the International School of Cosmology and Gravitation "Advances in the interplay between quantum and gravity physics" edited by V. De Sabbata and A. Zheltukhin, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrech

Accuracy of breeding values of 'unrelated' individuals predicted by dense SNP genotyping

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent developments in SNP discovery and high throughput genotyping technology have made the use of high-density SNP markers to predict breeding values feasible. This involves estimation of the SNP effects in a training data set, and use of these estimates to evaluate the breeding values of other 'evaluation' individuals. Simulation studies have shown that these predictions of breeding values can be accurate, when training and evaluation individuals are (closely) related. However, many general applications of genomic selection require the prediction of breeding values of 'unrelated' individuals, i.e. individuals from the same population, but not particularly closely related to the training individuals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Accuracy of selection was investigated by computer simulation of small populations. Using scaling arguments, the results were extended to different populations, training data sets and genome sizes, and different trait heritabilities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prediction of breeding values of unrelated individuals required a substantially higher marker density and number of training records than when prediction individuals were offspring of training individuals. However, when the number of records was 2*N_e*L and the number of markers was 10*N_e*L, the breeding values of unrelated individuals could be predicted with accuracies of 0.88 – 0.93, where N_eis the effective population size and L the genome size in Morgan. Reducing this requirement to 1*N_e*L individuals, reduced prediction accuracies to 0.73–0.83.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>For livestock populations, 1N_eL requires about ~30,000 training records, but this may be reduced if training and evaluation animals are related. A prediction equation is presented, that predicts accuracy when training and evaluation individuals are related. For humans, 1N_eL requires ~350,000 individuals, which means that human disease risk prediction is possible only for diseases that are determined by a limited number of genes. Otherwise, genotyping and phenotypic recording need to become very common in the future.</p

An assessment of opportunities and challenges for public sector involvement in the maternal health voucher program in Uganda

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Continued inequities in coverage, low quality of care, and high out-of-pocket expenses for health services threaten attainment of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in many sub-Saharan African countries. Existing health systems largely rely on input-based supply mechanisms that have a poor track record meeting the reproductive health needs of low-income and underserved segments of national populations. As a result, there is increased interest in and experimentation with results-based mechanisms like supply-side performance incentives to providers and demand-side vouchers that place purchasing power in the hands of low-income consumers to improve uptake of facility services and reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenditures. This paper describes a reproductive health voucher program that contracts private facilities in Uganda and explores the policy and implementation issues associated with expansion of the program to include public sector facilities. Methods: Data presented here describes the results of interviews of six district health officers and four health facility managers purposefully selected from seven districts with the voucher program in southwestern Uganda. Interviews were transcribed and organized thematically, barriers to seeking RH care were identified, and how to address the barriers in a context where voucher coverage is incomplete as well as opportunities and challenges for expanding the program by involving public sector facilities were investigated. Results: The findings show that access to sexual and reproductive health services in southwestern Uganda is constrained by both facility and individual level factors which can be addressed by inclusion of the public facilities in the program. This will widen the geographical reach of facilities for potential clients, effectively addressing distance related barriers to access of health care services. Further, intensifying ongoing health education, continuous monitoring and evaluation, and integrating the voucher program with other services is likely to address some of the barriers. The public sector facilities were also seen as being well positioned to provide voucher services because of their countrywide reach, enhanced infrastructure, and referral networks. The voucher program also has the potential to address public sector constraints such as understaffing and supply shortages.Conclusions: Accrediting public facilities has the potential to increase voucher program coverage by reaching a wider pool of poor mothers, shortening distance to service, strengthening linkages between public and private sectors through public-private partnerships and referral systems as well as ensuring the awareness and buy-in of policy makers, which is crucial for mobilization of resources to support the sustainability of the programs. Specifically, identifying policy champions and consulting with key policy sectors is key to the successful inclusion of the public sector into the voucher program

Framework, principles and recommendations for utilising participatory methodologies in the co-creation and evaluation of public health interventions

Background: Due to the chronic disease burden on society, there is a need for preventive public health interventions to stimulate society towards a healthier lifestyle. To deal with the complex variability between individual lifestyles and settings, collaborating with end-users to develop interventions tailored to their unique circumstances has been suggested as a potential way to improve effectiveness and adherence. Co-creation of public health interventions using participatory methodologies has shown promise but lacks a framework to make this process systematic. The aim of this paper was to identify and set key principles and recommendations for systematically applying participatory methodologies to co-create and evaluate public health interventions. Methods: These principles and recommendations were derived using an iterative reflection process, combining key learning from published literature in addition to critical reflection on three case studies conducted by research groups in three European institutions, all of whom have expertise in co-creating public health interventions using different participatory methodologies. Results: Key principles and recommendations for using participatory methodologies in public health intervention co-creation are presented for the stages of: Planning (framing the aim of the study and identifying the appropriate sampling strategy); Conducting (defining the procedure, in addition to manifesting ownership); Evaluating (the process and the effectiveness) and Reporting (providing guidelines to report the findings). Three scaling models are proposed to demonstrate how to scale locally developed interventions to a population level. Conclusions: These recommendations aim to facilitate public health intervention co-creation and evaluation utilising participatory methodologies by ensuring the process is systematic and reproducible

Social marketing and healthy eating : Findings from young people in Greece

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12208-013-0112-xGreece has high rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases owing to poor dietary choices. This research provides lessons for social marketing to tackle the severe nutrition-related problems in this country by obtaining insight into the eating behaviour of young adults aged 18–23. Also, the main behavioural theories used to inform the research are critically discussed. The research was conducted in Athens. Nine focus groups with young adults from eight educational institutions were conducted and fifty-nine participants’ views towards eating habits, healthy eating and the factors that affect their food choices were explored. The study found that the participants adopted unhealthier nutritional habits after enrolment. Motivations for healthy eating were good health, appearance and psychological consequences, while barriers included lack of time, fast-food availability and taste, peer pressure, lack of knowledge and lack of family support. Participants reported lack of supportive environments when deciding on food choices. Based on the findings, recommendations about the development of the basic 4Ps of the marketing mix, as well as of a fifth P, for Policy are proposedPeer reviewe

CMV Infection Attenuates the Disease Course in a Murine Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Recent evidence in multiple sclerosis (MS) suggests that active CMV infection may result in more benign clinical disease. The goal of this pilot study was to determine whether underlying murine CMV (MCMV) infection affects the course of the Theiler's murine encephalitis virus (TMEV) induced murine model of MS. A group of eight TMEV-infected mice were co-infected with MCMV at 2 weeks prior to TMEV infection while a second group of TMEV-infected mice received MCMV two weeks post TMEV. We also used 2 control groups, where at the above time points MCMV was replaced with PBS. Outcome measures included (1) monthly monitoring of disability via rotarod for 8 months; (2) in vivo MRI for brain atrophy studies and (3) FACS analysis of brain infiltrating lymphocytes at 8 months post TMEV infection. Co-infection with MCMV influenced the disease course in mice infected prior to TMEV infection. In this group, rotarod detectable motor performance was significantly improved starting 3 months post-infection and beyond (p≤0.024). In addition, their brain atrophy was close to 30% reduced at 8 months, but this was only present as a trend due to low power (p = 0.19). A significant reduction in the proportion of brain infiltrating CD3+ cells was detected in this group (p = 0.026), while the proportion of CD45+ Mac1+ cells significantly increased (p = 0.003). There was also a strong trend for a reduced proportion of CD4+ cells (p = 0.17) while CD8 and B220+ cell proportion did not change. These findings support an immunomodulatory effect of MCMV infection in this MS model. Future studies in this co-infection model will provide insight into mechanisms which modulate the development of demyelination and may be utilized for the development of novel therapeutic strategies

A Modern Mode of Activation for Nucleic Acid Enzymes

Through evolution, enzymes have developed subtle modes of activation in order to ensure the sufficiently high substrate specificity required by modern cellular metabolism. One of these modes is the use of a target-dependent module (i.e. a docking domain) such as those found in signalling kinases. Upon the binding of the target to a docking domain, the substrate is positioned within the catalytic site. The prodomain acts as a target-dependent module switching the kinase from an off state to an on state. As compared to the allosteric mode of activation, there is no need for the presence of a third partner. None of the ribozymes discovered to date have such a mode of activation, nor does any other known RNA. Starting from a specific on/off adaptor for the hepatitis delta virus ribozyme, that differs but has a mechanism reminiscent of this signalling kinase, we have adapted this mode of activation, using the techniques of molecular engineering, to both catalytic RNAs and DNAs exhibiting various activities. Specifically, we adapted three cleaving ribozymes (hepatitis delta virus, hammerhead and hairpin ribozymes), a cleaving 10-23 deoxyribozyme, a ligating hairpin ribozyme and an artificially selected capping ribozyme. In each case, there was a significant gain in terms of substrate specificity. Even if this mode of control is unreported for natural catalytic nucleic acids, its use needs not be limited to proteinous enzymes. We suggest that the complexity of the modern cellular metabolism might have been an important selective pressure in this evolutionary process

Induced abortion, pregnancy loss and intimate partner violence in Tanzania: a population based study

BACKGROUND: Violence by an intimate partner is increasingly recognized as an important public and reproductive health issue. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence is associated with induced abortion and pregnancy loss from other causes and to compare this with other, more commonly recognized explanatory factors. METHODS: This study analyzes the data of the Tanzania section of the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence, a large population-based cross-sectional survey of women of reproductive age in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania, conducted from 2001 to 2002. All women who answered positively to at least one of the questions about specific acts of physical or sexual violence committed by a partner towards her at any point in her life were considered to have experienced intimate partner violence. Associations between self reported induced abortion and pregnancy loss with intimate partner violence were analysed using multiple regression models. RESULTS: Lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence was reported by 41% and 56% of ever partnered, ever pregnant women in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya respectively. Among the ever pregnant, ever partnered women, 23% experienced involuntary pregnancy loss, while 7% reported induced abortion. Even after adjusting for other explanatory factors, women who experienced intimate partner violence were 1.6 (95%CI: 1.06,1.60) times more likely to report an pregnancy loss and 1.9 (95%CI: 1.30,2.89) times more likely to report an induced abortion. Intimate partner violence had a stronger influence on induced abortion and pregnancy loss than women's age, socio-economic status, and number of live born children. CONCLUSIONS: Intimate partner violence is likely to be an important influence on levels of induced abortion and pregnancy loss in Tanzania. Preventing intimate partner violence may therefore be beneficial for maternal health and pregnancy outcomes